5 ways cryptocurrency is influencing PR tactics

The hype surrounding cryptocurrencies and blockchain has reached a fever
pitch.

Analogies to the dot-com craze have been inevitable. Companies that merely
incorporated the word “blockchain” into its names enjoyed significant and swift impact on corporate
valuations. Along with the hype has come an influx of new cryptocurrency
businesses and, with them, the need for digital currency and blockchain
education and promotion.

These emerging markets require more nuanced communications plans than
traditional technology companies and products do. PR professionals must use
increasingly creative thinking to obtain the meaningful results clients
desire to break through the competitive noise. Navigating the volatile
world of bitcoin valuation and
regulation requires an acutely responsive and strategic communications
approach.

Here are five ways the rise of digital currency is influencing PR tactics:

1. Cryptocurrency requires quicker action than ever before.

Previously, startups followed a standard procedure for creating a business
model, which included building a prototype, bootstrapping (maybe from a
garage setting), trying to secure angel funding, and then rolling it out to
the market. Years later, startups would seek to raise additional funds,
often by entering the public markets in the form of an IPO.

Kickstarter challenged this approach by making it possible to raise funds
through small, direct contributions from “consumers.” Companies no longer
required the accreditation of investors.

Today, this happens in a fraction of the time. For the PR industry, this
means showing immediate yet sustained results to cultivate faith among
investors.

In a sense, we have all become investor relations practitioners—where the
“investors” are the coin holders who seem fickler and have less patience
than traditional institutional investors.

2. There is greater flexibility in cryptocurrency language.

We are seeing more casual communication and fewer formal methods of
interacting with clients, as well as differences in how company leaders
want to connect with media members. Content takes an array of forms,
specifically with regard to clients’ visions and claims of growth and
valuation. Those in this volatile industry are charting their own courses.

For client relations, this style is adaptable, but conversations with
journalists—especially those outside the “crypto press”—should adhere to a
more traditional approach.

Additionally, cryptocurrency has its own lingo, and it is important to
understand it and use it to communicate clearly. To the rest of the world,
“mining,” “proof of work,” “Fiat,” “whale,” “FOMO,” and “Gwei” might be
meaningless jargon, but in the virtual currency world, these terms are
crucial. Most crypto-businesses use these words and concepts with the
assumption that they’re understood; it’s up to communicators to clarify the
concepts and explain what they mean.

3. Management teams are more eclectic.

Management teams for cryptocurrency and blockchain clients tend to have
atypical company models and titles. Many leaders have no business
management experience at all; others have never led a company. This means
that responsibility is doubled on the agency side to educate and guide
clients.

The marketing team should to be prepared to pitch ultra-skeptical CEOs and
those who are willing to take extreme risks. Either way, PR pros have their
hands full representing companies in the thick of such a volatile
marketplace.

4. The business and the coin.

There are often dual goals of promoting a company’s business case, as well
its initial coin offering (ICO.) Public companies or those about to enter
the public markets are typically limited in what they can and can’t say,
but the lax rules around cryptocurrencies help ICOs to garner greater media
coverage.

Some companies might prefer two independent PR programs—each with its own
goals, targets and strategies—but marrying the programs with common threads
is preferred. The dynamics of the relationship between trade and national
or business press still exist, but the cryptocurrency press has far greater
flexibility in its coverage and more willingness to entertain a range of
news items. Where appropriate, the marketing team must find ways to succeed
on both fronts.

5. Embrace the cryptocurrency and blockchain language and subculture.

Cryptocurrencies were founded by anti-establishment folks. PR pros who can
connect with these leaders on their level and use their language will have
a better shot at building trust and securing relationships.

Regulation is coming, and it will be important to balance the aspirations of clients with the
rules of governance. For now, marketers should embrace the vast
opportunities created by bitcoin and blockchain and should take advantage
of the chance to experiment, grow and learn.

This bold frontier is just starting to take shape, and PR pros would be
wise to catch on early.